NAPC News 24 May 2012

The National Association of Primary Care Resource to Support Recruitment Of Accountable Officers

NAPC has a valuable new learning resource to support Clinical Commissioning Groups in the recruitment of Accountable Officers and to assist prospective candidates for this key rol.

The toolkit has been developed in partnership with Janssen, and is available to both members and non-members of NAPC.  Members, however, are also able to benefit from:

•    A review of the document with someone from the company
•    Example of behavioural description interview questions;
•    Example of situational interview questions;
•    Feedback guide on behavioural questions;
•    A learning log to capture feedback from example questions;
•    PDP guide and how to prepare a robust PDP
•    PDP template for individuals to use
•    Discussion on ongoing training needs.

For further information, please contact Ronan Collins, Janssen UK on 07876 257 746 or Katherine O’Doherty at NAPC on 020 7636 7228.

National Women’s CCG Leadership Network

Launch reception is designed to provide an opportunity to meet with fellow network members and supporters, as well as NHS senior managers, who have volunteered to act as mentors to women clinical leaders.  The goal is to build a vibrant and supportive network of leaders who can draw inspiration, encouragement and strength from others who are stepping up to the commissioning leadership challenge.

To reserve place, please contact Claire Matthews by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 07736 135 793.

Hospitals Failing To Report C Difficile Deaths

Hospital cases of Clostridium difficile may be going unreported because of the threat of government fines, it is claimed.

Health Protection Agency figures indicated 24,751 cases of the ‘superbug’ in 2010/11 and 2,704 deaths.  The figures were down significantly on the mid-2000s, when the bacteria was claiming 4,000 lives a year, but a survey of 101 medical experts found that more than half believed the true number of deaths now is higher.

Go Private For Bowel Cancer Tests

Patients should pay for bowel cancer tests, a government adviser has said, after research suggested that half of health authorities were failing to provide the screening quickly enough, despite millions of pounds of extra funding.

One A Day Pill Offers New Hope On Strokes

The first one-a-day pill for NHS patients with an irregular heartbeat has been given the green light.

Rivaroxaban works as well as warfarin, a treatment based on rat poison, which has been used since the 1950s, and has fewer side effects.

Leading doctors claim up to 900,000 patients with atrial fibrillation could be eligible for rivaroxaban, which is expected to trigger a shake-up in stroke prevention services.

Diabetes Care Failing Cost 24,000 Lives A Year

A huge variation in standards of care for diabetes patients is costing thousands of lives and wasting millions of pounds a year, according to the government’s spending watchdog.

Around 24,000 people die from avoidable diabetes complications in England every year, a report by the National Audit Office find.

It is estimated that diabetes costs the NHS in England £3.9bn in 2009/10 – three times the official figure.

Reforms Risk Running Out Of GPs

The NHS could run out of GPs because of the widespread discontent over pensions and health reforms, Dr Laurance Buckman, the chairman of the British Medical Association’s GP’s Committee has warned.

North South Divide

Ministers are planning to switch billions of pounds of NHS spending from the north to the south of England in a move that will hit poorer areas that already have the highest rates of ill health, according to the Guardian.

£120 Breast Cancer Test Could End Need For Chemotherapy

A breast cancer test that may spare thousands of women the ordeal of chemotherapy could be available on the NHS this year.

At present, around half of the 48,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer each year undergo chemotherapy after surgery to reduce the chances of the illness returning.  However, British scientists behind the test suspect that many do not need to have this debilitating treatment as many of their tumours are ‘low risk’ and unlikely to recur.  They estimate that the test, called ICH4, could identify between 4,000 and 5,000 women every year,  who would not need chemotherapy.

Anger As GPs Face Sack If They Refuse Single Women The Pill

Doctors may be struck off for refusing to give contraceptive pills to women who are not married.

New guidelines from the General Medical Council state that it would be ‘discriminatory’ for doctors not to prescribe either the contraceptive pill, or the morning after pill because they oppose sex outside of marriage.

Wary Health Authorities Leave Cannabis Medicine On Shelf

Britain’s first cannabis-based prescription medicine has been slow to sell. 

Health authorities have been tardy in embracing the mouth spray for multiple sclerosis, which is made by GW Pharmaceuticals.

Dementia Funding To End Use Of Chemical Cosh

David Cameron is understood to be ready to pledge millions of pounds to dementia research to stop care homes using ‘chemical cosh’ anti-psychotic drugs to control agitated elderly residents.

A £30m research programme will pay for studies into other methods of managing behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia patients.  The money will also be used to pay for research into how to treat painful diseases and injuries in Alzheimer’s patients who cannot describe their symptoms to doctors.

Health Care AssistantsMust Be Registered

Members of the Health Select Committee are calling for compulsory registration of Health Care Assistants, just as there is for nurses and midwives.   The government is against the idea, saying it would be too expensive and propose voluntary registration instead.

Dr Sarah Woollaston, a Conservative MP on the committee, said the matter had been thrown into sharp relief by ‘several high profile cases’ of poor patient care, involving both nurses and HCAs.  One such case was the scandal of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where elderly patients drank water from flower vases because they were inadequately nursed.

At the moment, an HCA is able to work in a hospital with relatively little guaranteed education or training.  More importantly, however, if there are concerns about an HCA’s practice, and is dismissed from post, there is nothing to prevent reemployment elsewhere in the NHS.

The Royal College of Nursing has consistently called for compulsory registration of HCAs.

Stephen Dorrell ,MP and Conservative chair, said the Health Select Committee was not calling for  immediate compulsory registration of HCAs, because there were significant issues at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which registers the two professions. 

Trust’s Patient Notes To Be Transcribed In India

Medical transcription services at the University Hospitals of Leicester Trust are to be outsourced to India with the initial loss of 12 post, it has been reported.

The Trust has chosen two companies, Dictate IT and Softech, which will both use Indian workers to transcribe electronic audio recordings made by doctors and return them to the hospital within 48 hours.

The hospital claimed it has had to change service after poor performance saw some discharge letters taking as long as 12 weeks to be transcribed and sent out.

Initially, only one division of the hospital will use the service from June.  However, it is expected to be rolled out across the trust over the next two years.  The flexible contract allows the hospital to increase or decrease the amount of work to both companies, as it sees fit.